Ichiro Thread

[Edgartohof]

Well, at the conclusion of the game tonight, Ichiro seemed in great form, going 3-4, with 1 walk, 1 SB, and 4 Runs. So he is doing his job, by getting his hits, stealing bases, and ultimately scoring runs.

So, while his season numbers still don't look great, they are slightly better after tonight, and look like:

9 hits in 38 AB, 4 BB, 3 SB, 9 runs(!!!), .237/.302/.263 (up from .176/.263/.206).

I know it's early, but I'm glad to see that he is being agressive on the bases (he really made the pitchers work tonight, with his stolen base, and forced an error out of the pitcher on a pickoff attempt by the pitcher, which allowed him to go to second base - he would have stolen the base anyways though).

[TheKingofKings]

Ichiro is badly struggling this year only batting .185 in 54 AB !!!

[Williamsburg2599]

Ichiro is badly struggling this year only batting .185 in 54 AB !!!

The one year i FINNALY got him on my fantasy team....

[Mariner Fan]

Ichiro is the best leadoff hitter period. Yes he can hit the long ball but his game is to slap the ball and get on base. Wow, how nice is that?

[wilkerson_rulz-06]

Maybe a mod can sticky this, after all, Ichiro is THE franchise player.

[skeletor]

slump ?

he'll have another good year..as long as he stays injury free, mentally
alert...heck, even his 'off' year, a lot of players would like to have..

all in all, he's been a great addition to seattle baseball..

[Rennie Stennett]

Ichiro untouchable ?

I have heard, (probably here) that in the M's organization, Ichiro is untouchable, as well as Bettancourt and King Felix, but is Ichiro really untouchable ? He (Ichiro) doesn't lke Hargrove and he doesn't like losing. could we lose him when his contract is over and he becomes a free agent ? You know the Yankees would scoop him up in a heartbeat.

Is leadoff the best place for Ichiro ? In Japan, Ichiro's Manager changed the batting order everyday depending on how players hit a particular pitcher, with the exception of Ichiro, who usually hit third in the order. Now, Ichiro seems like the best leadoff hitter in the league, with his steady 200 hits per year and a (.330) lifetime average in the Bigs, but could he better be used in the three hole ? Ichiro only walks (45) times per year. Ad this to his BA and he has a lifetime OBP of (.377) in the Bigs. Ichiro is a contact guy. He puts the ball in play. His average with runners on base and with the bases loaded is incredible. Most of the time, Ichiro comes to the plate with no one on base. Could he better be used in the three hole, so that he could hit with guys on base ? With a guy on First, it would open up the right side of the infield and with the talent he has with the bat, he could bang balls through the right side. The M's could hit and run; they could first and third the opposition to death. He is not a big homerun guy, but do we need him to hit homeruns even if he's hitting third ? A single here, a double there should be good enough. Let the big boppers like Sexton hit the long ball. Sexton might get better protection with Ichiro hitting in front of him and ditto for Ichiro. So now is Ichiro our next #3 hitter ?

[Edgartohof]

Well, after his extremely slow start, and hitting only .177 on April 18th, he has since hit .435, and has had multiple hit games in 6 of his last 7.

So now he has 33 hits, 4 doubles, 1 HR, and 8 SB's, and his batting a decent .287, and will soon (next week to week and a half), be hitting .300+, and who knows from there.

I will say that I am glad to see him still running the bases well, and hopefully he'll keep that up the whole season.

[Rennie Stennett]

Future Batting Order

1. Betancourt SS
2. Lopez 2B
3. Ichiro RF
4. Sexton 1B
5. Ibanez LF
6. Beltre 3B
7. Everett DH
8. Jojima C
9. Bloomquist CF

You can flip flop Bloomquist and Betancourt between the one (1) and (9) spot, depending on who's pitching, and to take the pressure of both of them hitting #1 everyday. Johjima seems more comfortable hitting back in the order. It might be two early to put Betancourt in the lead off spot, but he will eventually be there, of course, I'm not the Manager, Hargrove is. Lopez seems like a natural (2) hole guy. He has shown he can hit the other way, and is somewhat patient at the plate. I think Ichiro (3) and Sexton (4) is a slam dunk. Sexton will see more fastballs and they will have to pitch to Ichiro in tough spots. Would you walk Ichiro, with a base open to get to Sexton ? Sexton has not got into one of his tears where he crushes everything thrown at him. Of course, it is still early May. Farther on down the order, I continued Hargrove's right - left theme.
I think these guys have a chance to be a good hitting team. They need some guys to get hot, because hitting is contagious. Hargrove basically has all the slugs (RBI guys) in the middle of the order with the speed guys around them. It's time for me to step down off my soapbox.

[papa~smurf]

I think that the order is fine with Ichiro leading off.

Sexson got his 1000th hit today, a home run too, which might help him get back on track. I am hoping that Beltre is coming around too. Our starting pitching has been doing well, and with the exception of Guardado, our Bullpen has been lights out. If Ichiro, Lopez, Ibanez, and Everett keep their hitting up, and if Beltre and Sexson can pick their game up, we have a very formidable team.

[Edgartohof]

I think that the order is fine with Ichiro leading off.

Sexson got his 1000th hit today, a home run too, which might help him get back on track. I am hoping that Beltre is coming around too. Our starting pitching has been doing well, and with the exception of Guardado, our Bullpen has been lights out. If Ichiro, Lopez, Ibanez, and Everett keep their hitting up, and if Beltre and Sexson can pick their game up, we have a very formidable team.

I think so too. I am sure Sexson will come around (Ichiro seems to be as well), and if Beltre can at least be consistent, maybe on par with Ibanez, that would be just fine with me (.290/20/90), maybe not worth the money, but since I can't change that, I'll take what I can get

[ichiro262]

yeah...at this point i'm just hoping for a slightly above average season from beltre. i have to say i was really big on him before this season because of his crazy wbc performance, but what are you gonna do? anyway, i'm just hoping he can shut up all of those people crying steroids and get his average up. when that comes up, i bet his power will too -- you have to crawl before you can walk

[Edgartohof]

Ichiro just notched his 200th SB in his MLB career, and his next one will be #400 for his professional career (Japan and MLB)

[Edgartohof]

Well, I always said it, Ichiro is finally hitting over .300 for the season. It did take longer than expected, but after going on a now 12 game hitting streak, during which he has hit .431 (22-51), and is third in the league in hits with 55, behind Vernon Wells (56), and Miguel Tejada (58), so he should soon pass them and it shouldn't be too hard for him to keep the lead from them.

He is also remaining agressive on the bases, going 6 for 6 this month, and 14 for 16 for the season.

At least there is one more bright spot on the Mariner's, and hopefully now that Ichiro is back on track, the Mariner's themselves can do so as well.

[Edgartohof]

Ichiro now has a 16 game hit streak going, with 29 hits in the last 16 games, and has a .426 BA during this stint, bringing up his BA from the .260 that it was before the streak, to the .320 that it is at now, good for 14th in the league, and is 2nd in hits with 62, behind only Michael Young who has 63.

He is also leading the team in Runs with 33 for the season, good for 12th in the league, and with the ever growing Jose Lopez behind him, he should continue to shoot up that list.

He is coming off of a couple good games, with 5 hits, 4 runs, and 1 walk in the last 2 games. So to all of you doubters out there - HA! I told you so!